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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. clip — to cut
  3. leaves — of a tree
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. bat — the animal
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. clip — for paper
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. clip — a video
  23. dip — to sink
  24. saw — the tool

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com